EXCLUSIVE: It looks like Carnage will have company in Sony's upcoming Venom sequel. The Marvel Comics character called Shriek has been incorporated into the plot of the Venom sequel (due in theaters on Oct. 2, 2020), according to two sources close to the project. A Sony spokesman declined comment, citing the early-days status of the project, which won't […]

Before Sony and Disney announced their surprise reconciliation at the end of September regarding the future of the Spider-Man movie franchise, the two media companies were as far apart as they could be. The relationship, you'll recall, had fallen apart over money, with each side pointing fingers at the other. Indeed, a deal was so unlikely that sources say talks for a third Spider-Man movie at that point were "100% dead."That's according to The Hollywood Reporter, which on Wednesday afternoon issued a report revealing the surprise twist behind how the reversal. For that, folks, we apparently have Tom Holland himself to thank.The star himself reportedly engaged in some personal outreach directly with both Disney CEO Bob Iger and Sony film chairman Tom Rothman, urging them to not let the licensing and financial details of both companies' Spider-Man relationship get in the way of giving fans of the character more of what they want. Remember, the situation at that point was pretty bleak. Nevertheless, THR reports that the 23-year-old actor pleaded on multiple occasions for both movie executives to bury the hatchet and find a way to keep Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.It worked because, on September 27, the announcement came down that Marvel is producing Spider-Man 3, to be released in July of 2021. Holland's character, likewise, will appear in at least one more Marvel film. As we noted earlier on Wednesday, that additional film is most likely Avengers 5.Holland's behind-the-scenes diplomacy seems to have gotten underway in earnest post-D23. At that point, he began making entreaties to Rothman to reopen talks with Disney, in addition to reaching out directly to Iger. As THR notes, Holland was also able to show both executives how much loyalty is out there from fans of Spider-Man who were upset at the news of the character's future being in doubt, which seems to have broken the camel's back."I am thrilled that Spidey's journey in the MCU will continue, and I and all of us at Marvel Studios are very excited that we get to keep working on it," Marvel's Kevin Feige said in a statement about the Sony-Disney thaw. "Spider-Man is a powerful icon and hero whose story crosses all ages and audiences around the globe. He also happens to be the only hero with the superpower to cross cinematic universes, so as Sony continues to develop their own Spidey-verse you never know what surprises the future might hold."

(Below you’ll find some pretty massive spoilers for “Avengers: Endgame”)“Avengers: Endgame” is the biggest earner ever at the box office, and it had a budget to match — it’s easily the most expensive movie to date in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Which is actually kind of curious, because despite also being the longest MCU film it really has significantly less action than the three other “Avengers” films.It’s likely that we can chalk up that higher budget/fewer set pieces discrepancy to the price of assembling such an enormous cast full of big stars. Sometimes it felt like every major character who has ever appeared in the MCU showed up at some point or other, and it’s not cheap to get so many big names together at the same time.But “Avengers: Endgame” didn’t just bring back the big stars. A bunch of minor characters also got to return in some surprising ways. But maybe none were more surprising than this one character who appeared for only a brief moment at the very end of the movie.Also Read: Here's Why Black Widow Didn't Get a Memorial At the End of 'Avengers: Endgame'The character in question is a teenage boy who appears with all the other mourners at the funeral of Tony Stark. In this shot the camera pans across a bunch of people after Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) sent the original mini arc reactor that Tony crafted back in “Iron Man” into the lake. For the most part all the people we see are major characters who have shown up in the MCU recently, except for this one kid who’s standing there alone looking at the ground.You’ll be forgiven if you don’t recognize this guy, because he looked a lot different the last time he appeared in the MCU. That character is Harley Keener, played by Ty Simpkins, who you’ll remember from “Iron Man 3” as the kid from Tennessee who helps Tony (Robert Downey Jr) recharge his suit while he investigates a mysterious death. “Iron Man 3” came out way back in 2013, and Simpkins was just a kid at the time, and he’s grown up a bunch since then.Here’s what the character Harley Keener looked like in “Iron Man 3”:So, yeah, no shame in not being sure about that one — Simpkins looks completely different now than he did back then.Also Read: 'Avengers: Endgame' - What Happened With Loki and the Tesseract?It’s very interesting also that they would bring him back at all — a character that has not been mentioned at all since that movie six years ago. Is Harley Keener coming back to the MCU? I guess we’ll find out.Read original story ‘Avengers: Endgame’ – Who Is That Random Kid at the End of the Movie? At TheWrap

“Games of Thrones” star Kit Harington will join the Marvel Cinematic Universe in his next on-screen role, an insider with knowledge of the situation tells TheWrap.Details about which Marvel project Harington will join is not currently known. Disney is holding its annual D23 Expo in Anaheim this weekend, where it is expected to announce new Marvel projects, possibly including Harington’s.Harington, best known for playing Jon Snow on the show, would follow his fellow “Game of Thrones” co-star Ricard Madden into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Madden will play Icarus opposite Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, and Kumail Nanjiani in “The Eternals,” which focuses on an ancient evolutionary offshoot of humanity whose long lives and colorful adventures inspired legends and myths over millennia.Also Read: 'Game of Thrones: The Last Watch' Reveals Kit Harington's Emotional Reaction to Daenerys' Fate (Video)“The Rider” director Chloe Zhao will direct the film. Matthew and Ryan Firpo (“Ruin”) are writing the script. Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige is producing. TheWrap also first reported South Korean actor Ma Dong-seok, also known as Don Lee, will make his American film debut in the film. Created by comic legend Jack Kirby in 1976, the Eternals are a race of ancient human beings created a million years ago by the cosmic entities known as the Celestials.The HBO documentary “Game of Thrones: The Last Watch” documents some of Harington’s experiences making the show’s final season. One particularly emotional moment occurs during a table read, when cameras captured Harington visibly tearing up as he learned that his character, Jon Snow, would ultimately murder Queen Daenerys in the finale episode.Harington later told Jimmy Fallon: “I was very shocked and surprised at certain events and then I blubbed my eyes out. I cried.”Harington is repped by CAA.Deadline first reported the news.Read original story ‘Game of Thrones’ Star Kit Harington to Join Marvel Cinematic Universe At TheWrap

Due to disputes between Sony and Disney over revenue sharing from films starring the web-slinging superhero, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige will no longer be involved with future Spider-Man movies.

(Major spoilers ahead for “Avengers: Endgame” and the whole situation with Black Widow, aka Natasha Romanoff, but you probably already knew that given the headline)Even though Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) didn’t get a movie with her name on it in the first decade of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, she’s been just as central to the franchise as anybody. She was introduced back in “Iron Man 2” and has been instrumental in so many major events. So it’s puzzling that “Avengers: Endgame” didn’t really spend any time memorializing her at the end of the movie, which spends so much time saying goodbye to Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) and Captain America (Chris Evans).It’s puzzling also just within the context of the movie — Natasha’s sacrifice made everything that came after, including Tony’s own sacrifice, possible.If Black Widow hadn’t killed herself on Vormir so that Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) could return to the present with the Soul Stone, then they wouldn’t have been able to save all those people Thanos snapped, and then Tony Stark’s snap to wipe out all of Thanos’s forces wouldn’t have been possible. Her sacrifice mattered just as much as Tony’s did. Indeed, Tony’s sacrifice wouldn’t have been possible at all had Natasha not made her sacrifice first.Also Read: 'Avengers: Endgame' - That Last Scene Makes No SenseBut when we get to the end of the movie, we get a big memorial for Iron Man with a huge number of famous heroes showing up to pay their respects, while Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) hang out in the corner having their own private mourning ceremony for Natasha and Vision, who apparently nobody other than them — and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), I guess — cared about.It would have been a great moment to elevate a character who always operated from the shadows, never getting the acclaim that Tony always received. The one time Black Widow stepped into the spotlight was at the end of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” when a US Senate committee threatened to put her on trial. The people of the MCU finally had a chance to give Natasha the respect she was due, and they just didn’t.On the commentary track on the home video release of “Avengers: Endgame,” co-director Joe Russo addressed this concern, and blamed next year’s “Black Widow” movie for the lack of a memorial for Natasha.Also Read: 'Avengers: Endgame' - Who Is That Random Kid At the End of the Movie?“People have asked why Natasha didn’t get the same amount of screen time post-death as Tony did,” Joe Russo said. “Well, Tony does not have another movie. Tony is done. And Natasha has another film. And Marvel Universe obviously does not have to move forward linearly anymore. But that character still has more screen time coming.”So there’s your answer — Natasha Romanoff didn’t get a big memorial in “Endgame” because of the prequel movie coming out next May, whereas Tony Stark is not gonna be in the MCU again for the foreseeable future. Though they didn’t mention Vision specifically, there’s probably a similar reason for the lack of love for him after he died in “Infinity War,” since he’ll be back somehow in the “WandaVision” Disney+ show in 2021.There is an interesting sentence in that answer, though, that caused a big exclamation point to pop up over my head, though: “And Marvel Universe obviously does not have to move forward linearly anymore.” Since the MCU has done multiple prequel movies that didn’t involve time travel, including the first “Captain America” movie that was the fourth film overall in this franchise, it seems incorrect to say that the MCU ever “had to” move forward linearly.Also Read: 'Avengers: Endgame' - What Happened With Loki and the Tesseract?To me, this implies that the “Black Widow” movie will be more than just another prequel like “Captain America: The First Avenger” or “Captain Marvel,” which took us to the past to set up heroes that would have an impact on the present. To me, the implication is something I have long suspected about “Black Widow”: that it will involve characters from the MCU’s post-“Endgame” present somehow.But Marvel still has yet to confirm anything along those lines about that film. When they presented footage from the film at Comic-Con a couple weeks ago there was no indication that it would be anything other than a straight prequel — one that likely will set up a new player for future movies, like probably Florence Pugh’s Yelena.We’ve got a while to wait before we find anything out about what the “Black Widow” movie really has in store for us. It’s nine months until the movie comes out, and it’ll probably be December at the earliest before we get a proper trailer. So sit tight.Read original story Here’s Why Black Widow Didn’t Get a Memorial at the End of ‘Avengers: Endgame’ At TheWrap